The New Side of OV4
by Invincible East
Summary: Somebody suggested a random idea. I made it as close as it coming true. A slightly megalomaniac Mechanic who has lived in Empyrean ever since the Great Metastasis happened must embark on a journey to rescue the members of his old guild. 11/3/15 update: Currently on indefinite hiatus; I wasn't really expecting people to like this lol.
1. Chapter 1

**Cree Side**

Original idea by XgenSlicer, aka _The Cheese_

Chapter 1: The Random Nobodies

It happened several weeks ago. Captain Luther had summoned the core members of the guild PointBlank for unknown reasons. They didn't tell us anything at all. The guild had many questions, but they never got to be asked, for they, the six men, never returned. Without the presence of our "charismatic" guild leader, CreeCree, the guild is in mass confusion and chaos. Anarchy spreads, riots breaking out, looters taking advantage, squatters trying to break into the guild storeroom. But fear not, I, MacroniDude, the most trusted, intelligent, and reliable member of PointBlank, shall take this matter into my own hands.

"Hey you! Stop trying to open the lock! You'll never be able to do so anyways." I point at the guildie inspecting the lock of our guild storeroom. He shrugs and continues to study the cheap combination lock. Shaking my head, I look around the large but empty so called "banquet hall" of this guild. Several men are sitting at the tables, dozing off, staring at nothing, and playing cards. Someone burps loudly at the "minibar", which is really only a few stools and a dirty table piled with various drinkable water. This is equivalent to chaos here.

"I wonder what happened to Cree. Where did he and the other guild officers went?" Tamakorosu, a somewhat timid Soul Bender, makes a confused face.

"Who knows." Somebody replies loudly across the hall. Sighing, I plop myself at an empty table, laying my upper half on top of it. Why did Captain Luther pick us, a tiny guild composed of maybe two dozen nobodies? This place is so boring. Sitting up and cracking my spine, I sigh again. Maybe I should have stayed in Empyrean. Visiting here was a mistake. Kento's probably having the time of his life with that princess brat.

My train of thought moves on. Princess...I survey the room once again. Not. A. Single. Female. Entity. This place is a huge sausage-fest. Cree said there are more girls here now during the time I was gone but he seemed to lie again. I heard there is someone named SteeStee, presumably Cree's relative, but she is practically nonexistent because we had never even seen her. My third sigh of the day slowly transitioned into a yawn, squeezing out streams of tears.

Suddenly someone kicks down the door. Everybody stops what they are doing and gets ready for a fight.

"Whoaa, calm down you younglings, I'm not looking for a fight. Hell, even if I am I don't think I am allowed to trash your guild, haha!" It was Captain Luther, the captain of the flying ship Saint Horn.

"What are you doing here Captain Crunch? Where is Cree and the others?" FlameOnFeet, a Striker, asks the one thing on everybody's mind.

"Ah, about that, I'm here to discuss this...dilemma we are having here." He finds a seat in the middle of the room. "Is this everybody in the guild? I'll get to the point immediately: three weeks ago we discovered a new area in the Interdimensional Portal. Although it's similar to Ozma's Dark Side, it radiates a different kind of energy from the rest of the Otherverse Dungeons. Natalia dubbed it the first dungeon of OV4. Obviously I can't just send the lives of innocent men in, so I remembered your guild leader, CreeCree, was a capable man, and I decided to send him along with a few of his companions in there. As you may already figured out, they never returned."

"So," I speak up, "you want us to go in and bring them back?"

"Well, that's about the gist of it. Natalia couldn't keep this a secret and leaked to the Dungeon Fighters of the existence of a new OV4 dungeon. Everybody's growing restless and wants to go in. That cannot do. You must bring them back if they're alive and confirm whether it is safe or not for the exploration of this new area. I fear this one may be different than the others." The horned man opens up a gourd and begin to drink from it.

"I hate to admit it, but the people you sent in are some of our strongest in the guild. What good can we do?" One of the three Monks in the guild, DaJoekrMang, brings up a good point. We don't know what's in there. Even with the invulnerable party of Cree, Feet, Cheese, Teru, Joker, and Gramps they did not return, presumably dead.

"He's right. Why can't you summon the big boys from the elite guilds, such as Communism, Calamity, or Kinetic? Big shots like RunningWild and Reyak will probably be happy to oblige as well." Spitfire MayorOfKenya so says.

We all expect a reasonable answer, yes, but deep down inside our hearts we knew it's our duty to finish the job our guild master had left unfinished.

"It's fine." I've made my choice, I'll have to be truthful to my-our _feelings_. "Cree probably doesn't trust those guys anyways. We'll have to go." I look around the room, measuring the power levels of the guildies. There are quite a few strong ones here. BeyondEdgy, a legit Weapon Master who can use any weapon to it's full potential. Tamakorosu, while he may not look at it, is quite skilled as a Soul Bender. FlameOnFeet can do that flying kick which apparently gave Cree a stomachache for three days. There are a few others but of course I'm probably better, although I wouldn't volunteer to go because I don't want to die.

"That's some determination there, lad. Glad I chose you to lead the squad."

Damn it.

"Why me?"

"One, because Cree told me to go to you if anything's happened to them, and two, you Mechanics can use that little flying robot to record right? Film everything inside of that place and come back alive."

True, I can tweak Mr. Miller into a flying camera. I don't know about other Mechanics that can do that though. And that damn Cree, just because I have a little history here doesn't mean I can take the responsibilities.

"Fine, whatever, I'll go. At least it's better than slouching around here. So who are the rest of this 'squad'? Do I have to pick my own teammates among the remaining guild members?" I already picked out the best guys for the job. I'll leave them and my robots to fight while I just loiter in the back. Wonder if Ghent's Wi-Fi reaches in there.

"Well, I already found two very capable volunteers for the job, if ya don't mind. How long are you two gonna stand there?" Captain Luther turns his head at the door. After a brief moment of silence two guys flips themselves to the wall. No, a guy and a girl. Interesting.

"This," Captain Luther points at the tall man in white robes, "is John. He is a priest and attends regularly to the same church BufYoWeakAss went to."

"I'm no Paladin, but I can provide healing and some buffs. I seek to bring Archbishop Buf back. Allow me to join your quest, for he is my greatest friend." John kneels to me. Ho. So we have a 'Sader.

"And you are?" I question the short girl. Donning in a frilly dress with bright colors and with silky white hair, I assume she is a Mage. Ho, what a development.

She ignores me as she glares at my chopperbot.

"Wait, you're..." FlameOnFeet inspects the girl at a considerable distance. "Are you Stee? I haven't seen you since the Great-freaking-'Stasis happened." Stee? As in SteeStee, the one who Cree speaks of vaguely? "Don't mind her, she has a bitter taste for Mechanics. Probably traumatized from the influence of Kento." Kento? Ohhh, I can see. Judging from her height and body size, she is definitely a valid target.

"SteeStee is a Witch. She is from the guild SweetShop and claims to be your guild leader's relative. Seeing from your reactions, I guess she's right." Captain Luther finishes his drink and walks out the door. "Well, you have some hours. Work it out amongst yourselves first, then find me at my ship. Ludmilla will greet you there, as usual."

We were left with an awkward and somewhat tense atmosphere as a parting gift.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: First Contact, Well, Technically Second**

* _Due to self-conscious difficulties, this chapter (and probably the rest of the text) will be written in a 3_ _rd_ _person point of view. MacroniDude's quick thinking no longer takes lead.*_

"Why do we have to go in with a party of four?" MacroniDude protests out loud. He's already satisfied with his current plan with the party of eleven people. As long as things go according to Plan B, nothing should stand in their way.

"Sir Luther said that by entering the mysterious dungeon with a team of four people, according to the rule of the Master Guild in Underfoot, we will be a role model as a party. If we managed to leave, the results will show the rest of the Dungeon Fighters that anyone can clear that place with the standard procedures." Cleric John answers the Mechanic's question. MacroniDude scoffs at his response as he fumbles through the innards of his deactivated flying robot.

"Sound reason, but that quantity considerably cripples our effectiveness as a team." Screwing a screw, MacroniDude provides a comeback. SteeStee shifts her legs uncomfortably.

"Quality over quantity, and besides," FlameOnFeet responds with a classic idea "four people is actually pretty effective. A squad of elite soldiers could eliminate an entire nation if they operate right. Why do I know this? I don't know."

"Okay fine, guess it's no use arguing." There is already three people in the party by default: MacroniDude himself, John, and SteeStee. The Mechanic observes the banquet hall once again. The last remaining slot is very important. That last person may be the saving grace of the party, or the death of them. Who will be up for such as task? SteeStee glares at him while he crosses off each member on a mental list as he slowly judges everyone around the room. It doesn't long for him to notice her odd enmity towards him.

"Hey, what's her deal?" MacroniDude whispers to FlameOnFeet, assuming he knew a lot about this Witch.

"Why don't you ask her yourself?"

"Hey girl what's your problem?" Straight jumps to the point. "What's with your attitude? Why you acting like I'm the reason the Metastasis happened? Oh and also you shouldn't show so much skin for someone your age." He stares at her short _shorts_.

SteeStee's glares into his soul through his eye sockets. She clicks her tongue and speaks for the first time: "Shut up, don't talk to me! Gosh you're so damn annoying!" And with that she jumps off her chair and walks off somewhere in the back. The hall makes no noise. In the end Tamakorosu was picked for the job. MacroniDude told him he's counting on his Kazan and Bremen.

The time has finally come. MacroniDude bid his possible final farewell to the guild, along with Tamakorosu. The party of four walks to the harbor in an awkward silence. While their ship was being prepared, SteeStee walks off to sit at a nearby bench, counting her potions. MacroniDude stares at her. Generic tsundere. He thinks. Teenage girl just entering puberty. Hm...So Kento knows her?

He takes out an invention from Empyrean, a cell phone, and snaps a picture of her sitting at the bench. He then sends it to his contact, Kento. Luckily there is some Wi-Fi. A reply was received almost instantaneously.

"dude wtf? why do u hav a pic of her?" Kento seems to be worried.

"uh she's an acquaintance I guess." MacroniDude responds to his text.

"yooo she real delicious :))) im jelly. Why you u with her? Is she with cree?"

"cree's kind of missing. She and I along with some other peeps are investigating some stuff"

"ok hf i have to escort my BAE to her bath :)))))))))"

Their ship was ready just as he finishes reading the text message. No much were to be discussed. After some time they finally arrive at the gigantic Interdimensional Portal. Captain Luther bids them good luck and shoves them in after making sure MacroniDude's flying robot has began recording. After what seems to be hours of endless falling and drifting and spinning they finally land somewhere. John heals their fall damage with haste. The party then examines their environment. They are in the middle of the first area of Dark Side, except there were no monsters anywhere to be seen.

"Uh is this really the place? It looks exactly just like Dark Side, although I don't feel so much chills in my spine." MacroniDude deploys a Land runner to scout their surroundings. It spots a gate to the next area. That leads to the next place, MacroniDude is thinking, I'm sure there will be something waiting for us. All right. He studies his party once again.

"Okay, so our tactics as a party are..." He starts from John, who looks as determined to save his friend as ever. "John for support. Cereal for buffs and debuffs. Stee is a Witch, so we can rely on her for holds and perhaps status aliments. I'm the main damage dealer here then. So it's all magic huh..."

SteeStee looks very irritated. She gets in front of him and delivers a punch as fast as lightning to MacroniDude's gut. Actually it _was_ a lightning punch after all, she had a Florae coiled on her arm, generating intense electricity. MacroniDude instantly faints upon receiving the blow and foams spews out of his mouth.

"W-wha, is that what they call a Ducking Body Blow?" Tamakorosu comments, but does nothing to help.

"Miss Stee! What are you doing to Sir Mac?!" John crouches down to heal him, but it's too late. He's no longer breathing. In the end MacroniDude has to spend one of his precious tokens just because a slight misunderstanding.

"Y-you idiot, do you have any idea what you just did!?" MacroniDude points at SteeStee, rubbing his stomach nervously. "Token usage is limited here! We can only use about six or seven more times! _I_ _only_ _have_ _one left_..." But all SteeStee responds is an evil and _somewhat_ mischievous smile.

"That's what you get for telling me what to do."

"What? You—Why are you even here?! This is an important mission to us and may even affect Arad on a scale large enough to be compared to the Great Metastasis! If you keep on fooling around you can endanger us all!" She is slowly getting on his nerves.

"Me? I'm here because I actually care about my relative, unlike you. I came rushing when I heard Luther talking about his disappearance. What about you? You were standing around like an idiot even when the news was delivered."

"Why do you have such an attitude? Were you scarred by your uncle when you were young or something? I was 'standing there like an idiot' because I was thinking how-"

" **Enough."** a voice suddenly booms. An echo rebounds around the the charred battlefield. **"** **Arguing with your teammate, how foolish, both of you!"**

This voice...It can't be! John suddenly realizes who the voice belongs to. An extremely bright light shines, descending down from the black skies. It blinds them so bad they are close to becoming Asuras. Soon the illuminating light dissipates and a figure, clad in a now holy light, slowly drifts down some distance in front of the party. The light wears off, and a tall man with a large stature is standing in front of them, arms crossed. His brilliant, golden armor looks as if they can create the blinding light again, and he carries a cross on his back, made of holy light. An unmistakable sign of an agent of God.

"You...you're Archbishop Buf! Thank the lord, you're unharmed!" John runs up to him, but a Skytree Nut thrown from behind quickly repels him away from the Crusader.

"You idiot! That's dangerous! He could be an Imposter, or has been even corrupted! This is Ozma's territory, after all, or at least, seems to be." MacroniDude drags John back, maintaining a considerable distance. BufYoWeakAss stays silent. The two party exchanges no words for a good while of time, each waiting to make the first move. Only John is nervous. Is this Buf, _fake?_ The idea of Imposters boggles his mind, even if the church tries their best to educates him. Minions of Ozma that slaughters others and steals their identity? If this Buf is an Imposter, then does that mean the real Buf is...John's mind slowly gives into despair at the thought of losing his friend. For three years they've been helping each other out in church duties, and for three years BufYoWeakAss stayed his only friend.

"Hahaha!" A laugh breaks the silence, tension, and John's wavering doubts. It was BufYoWeakAss, who decides to laugh suddenly. "It looks like you guys are the real deal. I didn't think John would be here." He slowly walks up to the party. MacroniDude and SteeStee goes on guard, ready for any move he may do.

"Calm down, I am not here to fight you. Hey, I thought you guys were Imposters, disguising as an unlikely combination of people. But then I saw John. No Imposter can slay John without facing the wrath of whatever's up there." BufYoWeakAss explains what he was thinking. The party doesn't look so convinced, however. "Fine, here." He casts a basic blessing, Strike, on MacroniDude. However, with it coming from an Archbishop and a Paladin, that Strike may as well be Slaughter.

"What's this? I feel like I can make snap someone's neck with just a twist." MacroniDude feels a rush of insane strength flowing through his body. "Heh..." He gives SteeStee an evil grin.

"W-Wait, what are you doing? That's not funny! Stop!" SteeStee, who sudden realizes what he was about to do. MacroniDude gave a long chase around the blackened grounds with SteeStee, who whips out her broomstick out of nowhere.

"So you really are Buf! I'm glad you are safe! It's been so long, friend! The church was even thinking of replace you, however you are unharmed, so they'll have to forget about that." John greets his long lost friend with enthusiasm. However, BufYoWeakAss looks confused.

"Huh? That's weird. I was wondering why you guys were here. Is the time here slower than the outside or something? We were only here thirty minutes ago."

"What? Really? I've never been to an Otherverse dungeon before, is this normal?" John admits honestly.

"No. The flow of time remains the same in any dungeon, even with the Otherverses. I'm assuming you guys are here to 'rescue' us? How long have we been out?"

"If I recall correctly, it's been three weeks."

"Hm...I see."

After MacroniDude's Strike wears off, BufYoWeakAss gathers the party for a brief meeting.

"As I said before, we only arrived here thirty minutes ago. We thought we landed in Dark Side by accident so we figured we might as well clear it. Joekr single handedly cleared the mobs in this room, so we moved on after our preparation. For some reason though, I can't walk past that gate over there." BufYoWeakAss points to the gate that leads to the next area. "I've been stuck here for a while, so I got bored and tried to hide up there and see if something's gonna come out." He then points up to the darkened skies.

"That's strange. Maybe it has something to do with the next room? What _is_ in the next room?" SteeStee ponders.

"What, you've never done Dark Side before? Next room is Despairing Tiamat. Really annoying but he's relatively easy if you can hold him down like what you Witches are supposed to do." MacroniDude answers her honest question. She bites into his arm and the two fights again.

"Haha, Stee and a Mechanic that's not Kento. What brings them together? I thought Stee quit the guild too." BufYoWeakAss watches what he deems to be entertainment.

"Oh they just met. She said she came when she heard Cree's missing." Tamakorosu says. "They haven't got along ever since then. Say, what's that over there?" Being a Soul Bender, he has an archive in his head, brewed with the knowledge of souls and the undead, and because of that, he points at a pile of gray ash nearby.

"It was some spirit that tried to possess me. Probably Ozma's minion. It turned into that when it touched me." His gold armor shines as he finishes the sentence.

"That was one of Amme's creations." The Soul Bender digs his fingers through the crumbling ashes.

"Amme?"

"Oh that's right you weren't in Silver Crown after the Metastasis. It was basically an evil spirit that tried to take over Abnova by possessing monsters. I thought Amme was wiped out by some Dungeon Fighters. Why is one of his spirits here?" He studies the ashes carefully. "No, this feels different. This one feels a lot different than the original ones. I don't like where is this going..." Tamakorosu eyes at the gate nervously.

"Damn. They are in danger. They probably underestimated these spirits." BufYoWeakAss realizes the gravity of the situation. John frowns, then nods. "Hey you idiots! We are leaving, I fear Ozma or whatever the hell's in charge is cooking up something bad."

"What the hell is going on?" Some minutes later, MacroniDude fails another futile attempt. He watches SteeStee ram into the gate with her broomstick. It seems the neither of them can go beyond the gate. It is as if it is blocked by an invisible barrier. "I thought you guys already cleared the monsters here, so why..." The Mechanic slowly realizes the problem. SteeStee dusts off her clothes and together with Tamakorosu, too, figured out what was going on. BufYoWeakAss remains silent. Dreadfully silent. Only John is confused.

"Why are you all silent? We have to find out a way to get past this gate." John does not get it.

"John..." SteeStee grimaces. "If I'm right, that spirit thing over there, it tried to attack your friend, right?"

"Yes? What seems to be the issue?" John lifts one eyebrow in wonder. "It failed and received the smite of God."

"It's goal was to possess him, right? Although it died in the end, it still managed to touch him." SteeStee tries to explain this slowly.

"What are you trying to say Miss Stee?"

"She's saying that we have to kill him, or at least, _defeat_ , in order to proceed. Even though he is not possessed, Feet is marked as a monster here." MacroniDude states the matter bluntly. It takes a while for John to absorb this information. Before he could react, BufYoWeakAss closes his eyes. He then walks away from the party and then casts a variety of buffs on them, including the legendary Divine Invocation.

"Try your best to _defeat_ me, then. Let's do this, I wouldn't be going easy on you." He seizes the alpha strike as a spear made of holy light was thrown with the speed of the material it is made of.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Strengthening Thy Fragile Arse**

* _Some of stuff going on here isn't head-canon with the actual game. Get over it.*_

"W-Whoa!" The golden spear dives straight towards Tamakorosu, who instinctively covers his face with his hands. SteeStee pushes him away and just as the tip impales her heart, she is suddenly replaced by a small straw doll. The Witch drops on one knee and pants heavily, for the near-death experience was quite harsh.

"Hmph," BufYoWeakAss rubs his chin "even if you get hit by that it wouldn't do much. My Sign of Protection is stronger than that anyways. Just be glad I made this fight fair." He then tosses two more Spears of Victories, aiming at MacroniDude.

"Tch!" Two Tempesters were quickly assembled to shield the hits, but to no avail they were pierced through and continues to head for MacroniDude. A Sparrow Factory now was assembled, and MacroniDude, along with a squad of Land Runners, lifts the factory up as a shield. The spears went through, but stops just before their tips reaches his face. The rush of adrenaline makes him smile. MacroniDude snaps his fingers. The two dead Tempesters and the Land Runners' eyes illuminates as they jump to BufYoWeakAss for a kamikaze attack. There was a big explosion, but the silhouette proved that it was futile. MacroniDude chuckles at the foresaw result. He then takes out a controller and presses the only button on it. The standing Sparrow Factory ignites its engines on the bottom and heads straight to BufYoWeakAss. As it rapidly gains speed, it launches dozens of Sparrows to him, shooting machines guns. The bullets easily bounces off his shining armor, and their tiny kamikaze attempts did not faze him one bit. The Crusader then stretches out out both of his arms and, as the Sparrow Factory crashes into him, he is gets dragged back, leaving trails in the ground, but he wasn't overpowered. With his brute strength alone, he stops the robot factory and lifts it up. Just as he arches his back, trying to throw it back at MacroniDude, the Mechanic presses the red button on the controller again. The Sparrow Factory explodes, creating an even bigger explosion from the robots.

The black smoke fades and, once again, BufYoWeakAss is unharmed. Only this time he is surrounded by a white bubble, with a tiny black speck from the explosive.

"Impressive."

"L-Light of Divinity!" John exclaims at the special prayer that only experienced Crusaders are allowed to use. He gulps at the situation. Even though Buf has gave them blessings of the highest privilege, he still will win in the end! I've never saw anyone piercing through his defenses before. "B-Buf! Must we really do this? I'm sure we can solve this problem without any fighting! W-Whoaah!" John gets blown back from another robot suicide attack. Of course it scratches nothing but the air.

"There is no other way John. The rules in the Otherverses are absolute. I am a monster here now, and you Dungeon Fighters must defeat me to go onto the next room. You keep on repeating this process until you have reached the boss." BufYoWeakAss watches Tamakorosu summoning an unholy green circle around him. A ghost bearing the head of a goat appears, and instantly he feels his defenses going down.

"Bremen."

"And Jackyl!" SteeStee throws out a small, cheeky looking doll, which transforms into a more cheeky looking pumpkin upon landing. BufYoWeakAss can feel more of his defense capabilities lowering.

"Here! Have a blast!" MacroniDude assembles a large number of Land Runners. Aiming at the Paladin's location, MacroniDude presses the button and the Land Runners receives a remarkable speed boost. BufYoWeakAss simply responds by uppercutting the air with his right arm. A huge wall of light was summoned from the air and blocks the Land Runners' movement. The wall moves forward, pushing the bots back to MacroniDude. who yelps and runs a considerable distance before detonating them.

SteeStee decides to seize this opportunity. She throws out two flasks from her waist. A giant pool of lava forms underneath BufYoWeakAss's feet and a dark cloud forms over the top of his head. As the lava ticks away his bubble and thundercloud pours heavy rain on him, SteeStee takes out a lolipop and chews on it.

"Even with that bubble you will slowly get chipped away." She bites off a part of her candy. The thundercloud above the Crusader's head suddenly turns darker and forms an even larger cloud. A gigantic lightning strikes down on him. It left a sizzling speck on the bubble, just like the MacroniDude's Sparrow Factory.

BufYoWeakAss pays no attention to the lava and the acidic rain. Instead he chuckles, which quickly transitions into a laugh. "You call that thunder?" He points two of his fingers on his forehead, then lifts them away. A fantastic azure bolt of lightning then crashes down at SteeStee's hat. She survives, luckily, due to her clutch timing of activating Mana Shield, but she remains horribly blackened and injured. "This, is thunder." Whoops, that was a lot stronger than I thought.

"She deserved that for talking shit. Look over here!" For the single moment BufYoWeakAss was focused on SteeStee, the Mechanic had set up a team of six Viper cannons surrounding him. As soon as the Paladin notices, MacroniDude begin the bombardment as he throws out Land Runners and Time Bombs nonstop.

"It's no use." Tamakorosu watches the skirmish. "Even with him buffing us and Bremen, along with Stee's spells ticking him away, Buf remains unharmed. I don't think Kazan is gonna even matter. We have to do something about that bubble of his." He watches MacroniDude trying to dodge and outrun the revenge of lightning strikes.

"Hang in there Miss Stee...!" John places SteeStee on his lap and places both of his hands on her. A green aura radiates from him to his hands. The scorched injuries slowly begin to patch up. BufYoWeakAss notices John's operation.

"Hmph, when will you ever learn, John? You were never good at healing. Let me save the hassle." He points his index finger at the unconscious Witch. A refreshing color of green flows through her body and her wounds were healed in an instant. She wakes up, confused. "I even healed that scar on your head, from the lightning. Free of charge."

John grimaces. He withdraws his hands from SteeStee and stands up. With his fists clutched, shaking, John composes himself. He gets on his knees and begin to pray.

"The lord will find a way."

"What's that gonna do? Whatever lord you are thinking of, he must be crazy, sending Michael to guard Ozma here." BufYoWeakAss scoffs at John's determination.

"John..." SteeStee gets up, trying to conform the cleric. Looking over at MacroniDude's silly attempts on dodging lightning, she signs. Just as when BufYoWeakAss wasn't looking, she casts a Disenchant. However, it only seemed to dispel the Revenge of Light, although it seemed to be the most pressing issue at the moment. BufYoWeakAss, however, doesn't care, and really seems to be troubled by she herself. Is this...really Stee? She's different. Is my memory going bad? Vague memories of a different SteeStee fills his mind. Shifting his focus from the past, BufYoWeakAss notices the ticking spells had expired. Although really small, they seemed to have cracked the bottom and the top of his shield. She's gotten really strong, he thinks. It doesn't even matter she's received Wisdom Blessing and Divine Invocation.

"Eat this!" MacroniDude distracts him from his thoughts. A giant Ez-Time Bomb flies towards him with a dozen of smaller ones in the back. Series of Michael Bay special effects showers the battlefield. Of course, the Crusader is left without a scratch. "Damn, that bubble of his is really annoying. Did you actually buff us back then?"

"Insolent kid. You are just some new rookie that probably got dragged into this!" BufYoWeakAss summons a gigantic hammer of light and swings it down with both of his hands. A mini earthquake was produced as a result of the impact.

"H-Hey...!" SteeStee watches MacroniDude getting whacked.

"That's just overkill..." Tamakorosu looks into the crater. No traces of the Mechanic remains.

"Time to token up." BufYoWeakAss crosses his arms.

"What did you just say..."

"Hm?!" The Crusader was surprised that a voice escaped through the smoldering crater.

"Did you just call me a rookie?!" As the fog clears, MacroniDude is revealed to be shielded by two huge mechanical hands, aged with a rusty yellow hue. The hands lifts up, and the Mechanic can be seen crouching down. He stands up slowly, and the two giant hands rotates, clutching into two fists. "I've probably been in this guild longer than you have been Mr. Euphoric Priest! I'm here for the sake of our freaking guild! Gaeblog!"

"What in the-" BufYoWeakAss quickly tries to refresh his shield.

John smiles at the answer his God has given.

" **ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA!"** The two mechanical hands pummels down the tiny priest into an insane flurry of jabs.

"Guh!" BufYoWeakAss gets beats down into his own crater, barely covering the attacks with his hands.

" **ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA! ORRRRRRAAAAAUUUUUGGHHH!"** With a downward finishing blow strong enough to crack tectonic plates, the two arms retracts back into a portal and disappears from the face of the charred and blackened battlefield. BufYoWeakAss lies in an even larger crater. His white bubble slowly starts to crack. The streaks grow larger and wider, but eventually stops midway down. The Paladin stands back up, heads full of sweat.

"Not bad, kiddo. So that was the legendary Gaeblog, huh? I take it you are no tinkerer from a remote village."

SteeStee and Tamakorosu is still astonished on what they had just witnessed. Only MacroniDude's response snaps them back.

"Shit...Even with Gaeblog's EX Machine Gun and the defense debuff stacks...It only left some cracks on his bubble. Damn..." MacroniDude scorns at the reality. The Bremen fades away and the Jackyl doll explodes, inflicting zero damage.

"Hmhm. So in the end that was it. Looks like you will never beat me here." He looks over at John, who now is back standing. "Looks like the answer from your 'God' was just a half cracked egg."

"No." He unsheathes a katana, blazing with dark flames.

"That's my sword! When did he-" Tamakorosu's cry of surprise was interrupted with John's determination.

"This...is the answer." He plunges the dark sword into his stomach just as the exact moment Sign of Protection fades away. Blood spills out from behind.

"You idiot! What are you doin-" Just as BufYoWeakAss points his finger at John to cast Fast Heal, SteeStee catches on John's intention. She releases the Florae coiled up on her arm and let it fly towards him while he was in the middle of his casting. It went through his bubble like it was nothing and shocks his body with intense electricity, although he only felt static emission.

"..."

BufYoWeakAss speaks no words. He grabs the Florae, which struggles in his huge hand, and, after studying it for a good while, releases his grip. The Florae hurriedly flies back to SteeStee. BufYoWeakAss ends this moment with a hearty laugh.

"Hahahaha! That's some tactic all right. I made it so that you can only hit me while I was casting. It was in the basics. You guys won. I'm beat."

"W-What? How? You didn't even lose conscious."

"Well, Stee over there managed to touch me, despite all of my defenses. That's a win. I admit defeat inside my head. That should count. Now go, don't waste any time. Go on!" The Crusader heals and replenishes the party, as well as refreshing his buffs on them. Before the party could respond, he shoves them through the gate, which they went through with ease this tine. They look back on the Crusader, who waves back and flips his hand to signal them to go.

"Feeling good that you defeated a clergyman in combat? Go. Go on and save them." Solemnly says, he does not deny the fact that he regrets sending them to their deaths.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: The Unseen and the Masculine**

The party arrived at the second room. Normally they would be facing Despairing Tiamat, an overlord of Ozma. Countless Dungeon Fighters had fallen prey to his maliciousness as well as his aggravating random teleportations. In order to defeat him with one clean swoop, it is recommended if a party has several reliable holding skills, such as the Ashura's Ground Quaker. That's a class one could rely on for holding.

 _Or a Witch,_ MacroniDude thought, glaring at SteeStee from the corner of his eyes. It had been some time since he had done Dark Side, let alone Otherverse Dungeons, but he was confident that a Witch would be good here. What skills did they have again? That Florae hamster wheel thing, and the...

"Fuck." MacroniDude facepalmed himself. "That's it? Just that?" That skill would be no good if the enemy had constant super armor, and since from the look of that this is a weird alternation of Dark Side, that's definitely going to happen. The rest of his party ignored his rantings.

John the cleric was nervous. It was his first time venturing into a place like this. Though he was adept in being the role of a support, Buf from last room proved him that he still had a long way to go. They surveyed the area. Nothing in this god-forsaken charred battlefield, aside from the gate they had entered, which somehow was deactivated as soon as they stepped in here. The other gate that leads to the next room's also blocked, so that means only one thing.

"Someone's here," MacroniDude said, "and it's not Despairing Tiamat."

"It's not him all right," Tamakorosu replied, scanning the area, "in fact it's not anyone at all. There's literally nothing here."

"Maybe whoever's in here is playing a trick like the guy from last room. They could be hiding somewhere, watching us." SteeStee added.

John, sensing the tension, gulped. Buf had explained that some strange source of evil had corrupted him and his comrades. If the pattern is clear, they will have to defeat the previous party that was sent in before him, AKA the top elites of PointBlank, a guild he had never heard of until today. Who would be here in this room? He heard MacroniDude and his guild members listing the previous party back at their guild, but John was never good at remembering names of multiple strangers at once. Was anyone? Only the name of CreeCree, the leader of the guild and SteeStee's relative anchored its way into his memory.

"Who's hiding?"

Suddenly a voice that did not belonged to them echoed throughout the battlefield, or in the strictest sense of the situation, the room. It was a deep, coarse voice that sounded like it belonged to a man who owned a scruffy beard and lived in the mountains alone, chopping down trees and wrestles with bears on a daily basis, donning its fur he freshly skinned afterwards on his way back to the wooden cabin he built entirely on his own.

"Uh, did anyone hear something?" MacroniDude asked to no one particular in his party. When they responded with confused, nonchalant, and mocking looks, he cleared his throat and ignored it. "By the way, who were the other guys in Cree's party? I only know like two of them."

"Guy? How foolish, you will regre-"

"Lemme think," Tamakorosu paid no heed to the mysterious voice. "It's not like I know everybody in the initial party either. Only Cree and Buf actually bother to show up at the guild. The rest of the elite members were all busy assisting the government."

"T-The government!" John exclaimed. Does PointBlank have that much of an influence in Arad?

"I don't remember there being a government." SteeStee mentioned.

"Hah, indeed, we-"

The voice was cut off by MacroniDude. "There isn't. It's just a bunch of old guys making up of the so called 'council', last time I checked. G.S.D., Punjin, these guys."

"So Arad's like a democracy, huh." Tamakorosu said.

"Not really. Sometimes the council forces you to do things. Like this one time-"

"Um," the mysterious manly voice tried to say something.

"...Like this time they sent me some quest that I should go into EX Vilmark alone without any party members."

"So?" SteeStee replied. "That place is known for its speed runs."

"Yeah, try running that place with only using this level 5 blue revolver they sent me. Some kinda challenge quest, they said. My ass. More like they had fun watching me die."

"You know, you have fixed damage." the manly voice commented.

"I barely cleared that one, somehow." MacroniDude continued, totally ignoring the voice. "So basically this council is made up of a bunch of sadist old men who gets off by watching people plunging into their deaths to Bloodgarus."

"Really? Why are we helping them out then?" Tamakorosu asked.

"It doesn't really sound like much of a democracy." SteesStee nodded.

"Well the pay is go-"

"Beats me. I only rejoined this place recently. You'll have to go ask our glorious leader Cree."

"Or you can ask me." the voice said proudly.

"What the?" MacroniDude suddenly exclaimed, alarmed. "I thought I just heard some random voice."

"I thought it was some kinda weak monster." SteeStee added.

"W-Weak monster!" the voice sounds offended. "That's it, I was planning on being civil with you guys but it looks like you all need to be taught a lesson first! Prepare yourself!" Ahead of them a silhouette materialized and it began to radiant golden rays of light.

"W-Whoa!" It was blinding. They felt like it happened before. When the light was over, they opened their eyes. There was nothing in front of them.

"What?" MacroniDude said. "I thought he's going to reveal himself."

"Hahaha!" the deep voice laughed. "This is my true form!" It paused, remembering what MacroniDude addressed it as. "Wait, did you just call me a 'he'? Damn you, you will regret this. I'm going to unleash my full power!" The voice grunted, and it roared as waves of energy erupted from the spot it was standing on.

"Oh no," Tamakorosu realized who they were dealing with. "The tendency to power up whenever he feels insulted...!"

" _AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!_ "

"Oh crap, it's Teru all right. He's supposed to be a Striker but-"

" ** _WHOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!_** "

"...don't call him a 'he', a 'him', or any sort of male pronouns!"

The invisible Teruyo51 screamed his lungs out. It had been such a long time since he was forced to power up this much. The party had to shield their faces from the excess energy and wind pouring from his body. It felt forever, but Teruyo51's consecutive power ups had finally ended. He stood on his ground, panting and sweating. Muscles bulged strongly on his arms. Waves of his "ki" energy swelled within him. Teruyo felt alive. He wants to _move_.

"Um...so h-"

" _It._ " SteeStee warned MacroniDude.

" _She._ " Teruyo51 insisted.

"Right, so _she_ 's a Striker, a _female_ Striker, apparently, and now she had powered up like multiple times. Great. We can't even see her." MacroniDude placed a hand on his face and pushed it upward. He looked at the direction where the voice came from. "Come and face us," he shouted,"if you Strikers are so honorable!"

"Hah!" Teruyo51 scoffed.

"I don't think she can even if she wants to," Tamakorosu whispered to MacroniDude. "I heard from Cree that Teruyo51 owns a pair of epic gloves that grants her permanent invisibility. Ever since then no one after the elite members remembered, or knew, what she looked like."

"What? So we have this...invisible person hanging around our guild this whole time?" MacroniDude felt a drop of sweat. "Damn." He will not mention what he had discreetly done in the guild, or the fact that the possibility of Teruyo51 watching him this entire time unnerved the living hell out of him.

"So is this someone in your guild?" John said, "Maybe we shou-"

The holy cleric was rudely interrupted as Teruyo51 landed an invisible punch in his gut. John sailed backwards and fell unconscious. Either the buffs BufYoWeakAss casted on them before were intentionally weak, or it was that Teruyo51 managed proved his status as a guild officer with the power to be able to punch through it like nothing.

"John!" Stee, worried after her friend, dashed over to his unconscious body.

"W-What?" Tamakorosu shook nervously, a torrent of sweat pouring down his face. "Is that what they call a Ducking Body Blow?"

"Does everything to the gut have to be a Ducking Body Blow?" MacroniDude replied with annoyance. "You haven't seen a Monk at all, have you?"

"I have. There's like three of them in the guild."

"You guys! Am I the only who's worried about him?" SteeStee called from where John laid. She desperately tried to perform a poor example of CPR, something she had subconsciously picked up from Ghent during her time with Kent0.

"Just give him a token."

"I-I can't!"

"What?" MacroniDude was trying to figure out where Teruyo51 last was. He turned around with annoyance again, facing SteeStee. "Why not? Did you ran out? I have one left but you'll have to beg me for it."

"No, that's not it!" There was something in SteeStee's voice that made MacroniDude stop. _Hold on, is she_ crying _?_ "John...John can't use a token. H-He's an NPC!"

MacroniDude and Tamakorosu stopped what they were doing and looked at each other, then at her, before they bellowed in Japanese. They did not realize a third, invisible voice joined them as well, expressing his deep and manly usage of the word when in shock.

" _ **WHAT**_ "


End file.
